I’m looking at applying for jobs in the US in a few different cities (NY, Boston, SF, etc.) as there just seems to be too few openings up here for the amount of people looking. I know the US market is tough as well, but since it is a bigger country, one can only assume there is more potential for openings.
My question is, since most employers look at a resume and can easily tell where a candidate is based, is there any easy way to get past that initial glance where they throw an application out for not wanting to deal with the visa?
Unfortunately it is not easy to do so. Most employers would rather hire people who are eligible to work in the U.S without having to apply for an H-1B since it costs them around $6k and requires hiring lawyers and a fair amount of paperwork.
However, depending on what position and your experience it may be easier if you have a STEM background and are looking for a more “tech” position. Keep in mind however that Trump is making the process more difficult and that there is a quota on the number of H-1Bs that are given each year (65,000 general and an additional 20,000 for people with advanced degrees) . Additionally, USCIS starts taking applications on April 1st of each year and historically they reach the quota on the same day (or within days). For 2018, they reached the quota on April 7th.
There are other types of visas that don’t have quotas, but these are generally not as common but can still get you here. A good example is L1 visa which basically allows you to transfer within the same company but to their U.S offices (not sure if that’s an option at your current company)